This invention relates to a device for controllably coupling two rotating shaft parts, and more particularly, to coupling two parts of a crankshaft in a multicylinder internal combustion engine for motor vehicles.
A clutch of this type for coupling two rotating shaft parts is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,753,480, wherein the crankshaft parts are connected at a predetermined relative angle of rotation. Recoupling at the correct rotational position is required in an internal combustion engine in which some of the cylinders, and their pertinent crankshaft parts, are disconnected during certain vehicle operating states, as disclosed, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,828,298.
In the clutch described in Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,753,480, hydraulically actuated friction couplings effect the pre-coupling and the main coupling of the crankshaft parts. A positive coupling can also be provided. The second clutch is hydraulically actuated only within a narrowly limited range of angular rotation so that the precise angle of rotation correlation between the crankshaft parts is achieved.